Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 4/1/2013

Dozens of lakes opened in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge near Potholes Reservoir on Monday. The number of great trout fishing lakes that anglers can now fish has greatly expanded, and should keep them busy until the general lowland lake opener at the end of the month. Meanwhile, kokanee fishing continues to be the best ever at Lake Chelan, and now Palmer Lake has kicked into gear. This ...

Author: Pete Heley

Posted: 3/27/2013

After setting a one sturgeon seasonal bag limit earlier this year, the ODFW decided to increase the seasonal limit to two sturgeon. Since Jan. 1, the annual statewide bag limit has been one legal white sturgeon total for all zones statewide. According to Steve Williams, ODFW fish division deputy director, the increased bag limit is in response to a recent decision by the State of Washington to set...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/26/2013

What a week for weather. I have experienced snow, rain and high winds, but it didn’t keep me from having some great fishing first on the Yakima River and then at Lake Chelan. Weather for the coming week is much more mild and I would suggest that you get out take advantage of it. Last Wednesday my fishing buddy Rollie Schmitten and I floated the Yakima River. We went with Johnny Boitano of ...

Author: Pete Heley

Posted: 3/23/2013

The start of the ocean chinook sportfishery last Friday was uneventful as the Umpqua River Bar was closed almost the entire weekend. Evidence that there are some spring chinook available to be caught when the ocean is accessible were the chinooks (at least three) recently landed by bottomfish anglers fishing out of Winchester Bay. Umpqua River spring chinook anglers are still waiting for the fi...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/18/2013

What a great week I had. I fished the Upper Columbia and the Methow for steelhead, and Lake Chelan for kokanee. I finished my steelhead fishing for the season in style, and got into spring fishing for kokanee much earlier than usual. It looks like there is going to be a lot to look forward to on Chelan this year. I wanted to give the fishing at Bridgeport a try once more before I hung it u...

Author: Pete Heley

Posted: 3/13/2013

There has been a lot of questions about trout plants this year, mostly because with the exception of the North Coast Region, the schedules for most other areas had not yet been posted on the ODFW website. However, as of the end of last week, that information is now available on the ODFW website. If you do not already have it bookmarked, the stocking information can be reached by doing a internet s...

Author: Lou Smith

Posted: 3/11/2013

This is an attempt to help beginning Kokanee fishermen/women understand what the seasoned pros already know. They understand the yearly cycle of a kokanee lake. I will attempt to consolidate what my literature search found in an outline form that avoids the long boring reading that has possibly keep a lot of people from reading them. But, I earnestly encourage you to read all the selected items li...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/11/2013

Anglers are still showing up at the lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Area in huge numbers. Knowing that they are still full of quality trout, they are eager to get their show of them. However, I am not ready to let go of the steelhead fishing still available to us on the main stem Columbia and the Methow River. I will be fishing on the main stem Columbia in the Bridgeport area and the Methow Ri...

Author: Pete Heley

Posted: 3/8/2013

The February 23rd issue of Science News had a couple of very interesting articles that should be of interest to outdoor sportsmen. An article by Erin Wayman quotes an online article in Geophysical Research Letters that reported that evaporating water from irrigation canals and fields resulted in an increase in summer rains and an increase runoff to the Colorado River. The entire article makes inte...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/5/2013

This was a very special week for me. On Friday I picked up an F-150 pickup that Town Ford found for me. It has some great features, including a back up camera that makes hooking up the boat a breeze. It’s all logoed up, so when you see it on the road be sure to wave. The next day I picked up a brand new Kingfisher 2025 from Bob Feil Boats and Motors. The boat is fully equipped and my wife, E...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 2/27/2013

This was a big week for folks here in Central Washington, particularly in the Wenatchee Valley. Before I get into what I did earlier last week and what’s coming up for the weekend, I wanted to thank Merle and Bev Shuyler and their staff for putting on the first Wenatchee Valley Sportsmen’s Show here at the Town Toyota Center. It was a great success, and wouldn’t have happened without them and a ...

Author: Pete Hely

Posted: 2/27/2013

The best news is that there has been a few spring chinook salmon reported caught in the Scottsburg area and it probsbly won’t be to many weeks before one starts seeing vehicle-trailer rigs parked along Highway 38 because there isn’t enough parking space in the boat ramp parking areas. Steelhead fishing is still fairly good on the Umpqua, but finclipped keepable steelhead remain extremely rare.Vi...